Finding the Flow- All Parts Are Welcome
One of the best teachings around flow for me is the remembrance that we are not meant to stay in one static balanced place all the time. When you look to the natural world, the ancient teachings of early people- we see that all cycles, all aspects of living were acknowledged and valued, even revered. Somehow in our culture or society today we can so easily be allured into a belief structure that certain things are supposed to be a certain way, that we are supposed to attain a certain level of perfection, sustain a continual momentum of equilibrium- when absolutely nothing in the natural world, of which we are made of, emulates this.
Nothing stays the same. Everything changes, dies, becomes grotesque, turns inward on itself, turns upwards on itself, sprouts a brand new shiny leaf- all to begin again, up and down and all around. A forest floor is a perfect example of this- a healthy forest floor is not one that is deeply manicured and sustained to only support a few handful of trees but instead the culmination of vibrant living, dead living, moving- chipmunks under leaves, sprouting of new trees under larger trees, and the canopy providing home for mycelium network to grow in harmony.
For me- when I think of flow, I think of being able to ride this wave of permeability, flexibility, change and being willing to meet the hard edges of my own life with greater ease- but not thinking these stuck hard places won’t come up from time to time. I think of flow as living not from a militant or structured place of trying to stay on the surfboard the entire time but instead to allow for the natural pulse of life giving flow into life- where somedays the surf is too rough, somedays its even too calm to even find a wave.
In my own life, this teaching comes up most often when I run off the rails of over-productivity. When my Germanic-Swedish New England ancestry comes in and presents itself as an underbelly of needing to keep going, work hard. Of course our culture further sustains this unbalanced mentality.. But the truth is, it is when that inadvertent pressure builds that I actually begin to notice the breaking points. It is in the moments where I experience myself get tight, hold on, grimace, tighten or clench my jaw or hold my breath that I suddenly wake up- wake up to this part of me existing too in the shadows of myself. But- rather than being an “exiled” part, I see these moments as the opportunity (as Leonard Cohen said)- to allow this crack to let in the bright shaft of life- to birth anew once again.
In the past, I might have felt ashamed or judged myself or having fallen prey to unwanted shallow belief systems- but not I appreciate these moments of a wake up as a recognition of my full human experience- like the forest floor. I and we can be ALL THINGS. Because each time we catch ourselves, see it- how we’ve gotten swept away- this is a simply a reminder (like a car light on the dashboard) to again open up to ALLOW & OFFER EMPATHY TO MYSELF and to trust that the natural cycle of life is at play once again.
The truth is, the tight parts, anxious parts of ourselves don’t have to be excluded from our life but can instead be welcomed in. When we exile a part of ourself, we just are repeating some of the same old behaviors of separation we might have been raised with that made us leave ourselves to begin with. Life isn’t about dissecting ourselves under a microscope separating the good from bad, but instead it is about laying ourselves down on the Earth and letting the flow of love find us.
Flow involves us continuously metamorphosizing ourselves, continually letting go into the great mystery of life, and continually not taking ourselves too seriously. I hope you are opening to the mystery and flow of your own life today and finding your own kindness towards yourself. In peace! - Tania